The Home for Odd, Ugly and Neglected Toys

So… I got this weird figure in my Christmas stocking years and years ago (thanks Dad!).

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The guy looks to be a monster greaser or something, but he’s not quite the Hell’s Angels motorcycle-riding stereotype. Take a good look at his pompadour hairstyle, orange leather jumpsuit, blue gloves, blue elf boots and his plump, heart-shaped torso all lined with metal brackets or fencing or something.

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Sure, it’s an odd outfit, but then you see who’s wearing it – a pale, vampire-looking guy with blue gums, no eyes and a face wrapped in the same metal riveted brackets.

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Okay, he’s a freaky greaser type, but there’s another level of thought in the toy’s design here. It appears “sound” is a major theme in this character’s concept. His outfit contains speakers and horns on his arms, waist and chest. To amplify his sound theme (no pun intended), there’s a button on his back you press to animate his arms and release a cute, little squeak sound (kinda like a dog’s chew toy).

I am not (and never have been) a fan of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, but according to this site(thanks for the link Brian), this guy is in fact a monster on the show. He’s known as Wolfgang Amadeus Griller. It seems that he appeared in an episode called Cars Attacks in 1997. He’s a musical monster who uses his conductor’s wand to throw cars around and the like… probably causing chaos for the overly-animated Power Rangers.

I really love the surprisingly quirky, freaky and fun design of this figure, and knowing the Power Rangers’ monsters were this bizarre, I really need to be on the lookout for other weirdo monster toys from the toyline. I can always have faith in Japanese to create cool creatures. If you all know of any other MMPR toys worth checking out, please let me know.

Kindred Spirits

Who is Weirdo Toys?

I’m Justin Gammon. I'm a designer/illustrator by day and toy-blogger by night. That'll explain my sporadic postings. What do you mean you want to write to me? That's odd. Hey, while you're at it, would you send me some cool toys? Thanks!